Cheeky Shelf DIY

On one very emotional Sunday afternoon, September 25th 2016, I moved house!
I didn't really know how to start this post, to be honest, but there you go. What a great beginning. Anyway, I did actually move house because of uni, which I've just recently started. I don't want to get too lost in uni stories, however, because that's a whole different chapter.

What I wanted to show you is someting a bit more thrilling than that. When I was a kid I was so so looking forward to the day that I would move out of my parents' house and finally have my own place. As a kid, yeah. You get the point. As a kid you don't know nothing about rent, heating costs or how to survive without your mum's cooking. Growing up, and especially after coming back from traveling for seven months, I really did appreciate living with my parents, not worrying about rent or food. Now, however, having lived in a new city with new people for seven weeks, I can happily say that I do actually like it. I like the new flat that I share with two other girls, I like my new room, I like my new uni (well, I never had a uni before), I like my new friends and I like my new old shelf.

Bang! Nice transition to the actual topic, huh? The room that I currently rent came with a few pieces of furniture which I wasn't too sad about. Sure, I would've loved to pick out my own bed or my own desk, but I quite liked most of the things the room came with. Except for this shelf.

It was brown, bulky and boring. And since the room itself isn't too spacious either, that needed changing! So off we went to get some white wood paint and brushes.

Having painted the shelf, that alone already made a huge difference. It looks less bulky and makes the room appear bigger than it actually is.
Another thing we changed was the arrangement of the shelving boards that were already in the shelf. Thank God, it was Ikea which means you can easily change it.

If you take a look into my room, you can see a bed, a desk and the shelf. That's literally it. So where's the wardrobe, you might wonder. The bed comes with a lot of storage space underneath, so I put most of my foldable clothes in there, but there are a couple of pieces I want to hang. And since I don't really have a wardrobe I could bring along to the new place, I decided to get a copper pipe, some hangers and my dad to help me construct a clothes rack within the shelf itself. It didn't take any time at all to put together and with around 10€ it was also extremely inexpensive. And I love it, I have to admit. I absolutely love it.

Next and last top tip are drawer knobs! The shelf itself has two small drawers and to make them look prettier I decided to buy some coppery knobs which go along perfectly with the copper pipe. Again, it's super easy, super quick and super inexpensive. AND it looks super pretty, as well. In my opinion.

So yeah, a change of colour, function and an addition of drawer knobs can turn this whole thing completely around and I really like the outcome. I just wanted to inspire you if you ever find yourself in a similar position. Don't just throw the thing away if you don't like it, but get creative, see what you can change to make it nicer. It will be easier than you think. Cheers, guys.